Rail joint



v F654, 1930. i C, WILKQFF v 1,746,175

I RAIL JOINT v Filed JanS, 1929 z'sheets-sheet 1 n @51, 5%.mglj WMM' K l Avi@ dmmuw Feb. Y4, 1930. l

' L. c. wlLKoFF Y l,746,175

RAIL JolNT Filed Jan. 5, 1929A 2 sheets-sheet 2 I ,g m /CQ Y ik L fur k Patented Feb. e, ieeey i.

" UNrrsn STATES 'LOUIS c. WILKOFF, on'frouircrs'rown, OHIO, AssIeNoR To WILLIAM CORPORATION or' OHIO lPATENT lolflelciail WILKOIF, INC., A

v RAIL .JOINT Application led January 5, 1929. Serial No. 330,646.

This invention relates to rail joints and more particularly to the improvement of splice bars vwherein, the clamping eEectl against the rail ends .is improved, Whethery applied to new orwor'n rail ends, and aims generally. to improve such Joints and bars.

It is 'generally understood, in the art towhich this invention relates that the maxi` mum wear of the'rail joint, due to the pound` ing action upon the rail ends Vby thel rollin stock, is uponthe under sideof the rail hea and the adjacentI upper contact edges of the splice bar. To compensate for this the bolts are ,taken up from time. totime, to draw the Splice bars upwardly toward the rails, which may, of course,be repeateduntil the splice hars engage the webs of the rails. -When this occurs, further adjustment of the splice bars to compensate for such wear is not possible,

and the bar 1s no longeruseful for suchwear.

Heretofore it has been proposed to reshape the worn splice bar to provide new contact surfaces for the Worn portions of the rail ends by crowning or curving the upper contact edge of the bar, by a tolerated'amount in excess of the normal, fishing height of the bar, as disclosed for instance in thepatent of E.

' Woodinofs No. 1,547,854, granted July 28,

1925. buch a bar is restricted in use to worn rail ends, and cannot readily be used with new rails vwithout sacrificing much of the rail head support and resorting to an eXcessi-veamount of flexing ofthe ends of thebar inwardly.

My invention provides a new splice bar capable of use either withV new or worn rails,

and which will provide adequate'support for therail heads without resorting to excessive L flexing of thebar.

Under present practice, using new rails ofA a given fishing height, there is ingenera'l a given fishing height of splice-bar for use therewith. The terms cnormal fishing height for a rail (or other terms of like import) used in my specificationV andclaims, `are in.

tended to erpress shortly, the fishing height of the lordinary splice-bars of uniform crosssecti on which would be used with the'rail under consideration, when new, according to present practice. As rail sizes vary, the

drawings, wherein:

Flg. 1 is a side elevation of a rail joint illus- 60 only accurate way for me to generically define myvi'nvention is by a comparison with such a standard.

While my inventionis applicable to many forms of splice-bar it is capable of being read- -ily understood in its generic sense by reference to a single illustrative embodiment which I have shown in the accompanying trating the worn sections of the rail head and m improved splice bar applied thereto;

ig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken.` on the line mof Fig. 1 showing the bar` applied to a new or unworn rail joint;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View thereof taken on the line 3.-3 of F ig. 2;

new splice bar when applied to new-:or unworn rails, and in dotted lines as applied to. worn rails, as compared with the position oc cupied by' a splice bar of normal height as shown in dot and dash lines; and

' Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional viewofanso other embodiment of my improved splice bar. My invention may be embodied in the. manufacture of'new splice bars, as by rolling,

. or to reshaping splice bars, by any of the acceptable methods, and is adaptable vto any of the standard types and shapes of bars as are commonly used inl practice.

In practice the wear on the heads of therails R, due to the'pounding action of the rolling stock is at the joint and on the under side of the rail head, as indicated at 16 and is` approximately one-sixteenth of. an inch. In using splice bars of normal height only a portion of` this-wear can be compensated for by adjustment of the splice bars towards they web of the rails."

According to the present practice, reformed splice bars having an increased fishing height at the center, but normal fishing height at the ends,are inserted, so asto provide new con-v tact surfaces for the worn rails. However, such fish plates are not as adaptable for .use when applied to new and unworn rails because the abnormal height of the bar materially eut down the bearing surface or fishing space of the bar against theV under sideof the rail head resulting in more rapid wear of the rails and bars. y

My invention provides a new rail'joint, and a new splice bar, having the advantages of 'providing adequate fishing height for worn rails as well as adequate bearing surface or fishing space for new rails and hence 1s more universally adaptable for general use.

. 17 (Fig. 7) so as to relieve the center bolts 14 Athefupper surfaces of the rail flanges 12 in planes parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rails. When applied to worn rails (see Figs. 4 vand 5) the central portion ofthe bar may be drawn inwardly as indicated at 13 by the center bolts 14 so as to provide adequate bearing or rail clamping surface 15 and support for the worn portion 16 of the rails.

Thus my invention provides a' splice bar capable of full fishing engagement when applied either to -worn or unworn rails. In'

the former case (see Figl 4) the fishing surface of the head of the bar is in full load supporting engagement with the fishing surface of the rail head, particularly adjacent the joint where adequate support is needed. When applied to a new or unworn bar (see Fig. the head of the bar is substantially in full fishing engagement with the fishing sur- .face of theirail head. having its major fishing surface in fishing engagement with the under side ofthe rail head.

Advantageously the splice bars may be sli glitly camb'eredin a transverse plane as at from strain when the bars are applied to worn rails. Such camber need only be slight,

about one-eighth of an inch or less and is ina direction so that the central portions of the splice` bar normally will be closer to the web W of the rails than its ends. Thus when the `bars are applied to worn rails they will not be under undue tension and will not have a tendency to slip out of the fishing space. lVhen applied to new rails, the endbolts 14 will be tightened to flex the ends of the bar inwardly toward the `web of the rails so that the bearing surfaces of the bar will be in vwhen applied to worn rails.

. For purposes of illustration I have assumed a wear'on the underside of the rail head of one-sixteenth of an inch, and according to my invention the height of the splice bar 10 is increased by approximately one half of such wear, or one-thirty-second of an inch in excess of the normal fishing height of the ordinary4 splice bar 20. The angles of"in eilnation of the underside of therail' head and i the rail fiange are approximately 4 to 1 soA that the new splice bar will be removedoutby an amount approximately twicethat'the increase 'in fishing height ofthe bar, or 1n the illustrated arrangement, by onesix teenth of an inch. Likewise, when my new bar is'applied to a Worn rail having a worn surface 16 of one-sixteenth of an inch, the center of the bar need onlybe drawn in towards the web approximately one-sixteenth of an inchas shown in 'dottedlinea Fig. l6, beyond the normal fishing space indicatedat, 20, to provide new contact surfaces for the rail throughout the lengthl ofthe bar.

It is onlyin exaggerated cases `.that the 'wear 16 on the rail head approaches one-sixi teenth of an inch, and the` average wear `will probably range from one thirty-second of an inch to one-sixteenth. Hence', by increasing the normal fishing height of mybar by an amount less than the tolerated wear, itis obvious that my bar is more universally adaptable to a great variety of uses, as compared with the present practice of increasing the fishing height of the bar by nefsixteenth of .aninch at the center only.

As is obvious from aninspectidn of Fig. 6, my improvedvbar clamps the rail head, of new rails, throughout 'a greater part of the normal fishing space than is possible'. with bars reclaimed according to the present praetiee above described, while at the same time providing for effectively lclamping the rail heads of worn rails.

-By increasing the fishing height of the splice bars uniformly throughout their length, as explained above, the bars are readily` adaptableA for useV ,with new or unworn rails as they clamp the rail head `throughout substantiallytheentirejishing space as illustrated in Fig. 6, wherein the normal fishing' space is indicated in dotand dash lines and the' portion thereofl occupied by my new bar is'shown in full lines. When applied toworn rails as shown yin Figs. 1 and 4, the bar occupies a very substantial. portion 85 wardly away from the normal fishing space y of the normal fishing-'space because a por tionl of-the wear to be compensated for is taken up by the increased fishing. height of the bar and the remainder. by flexing the cen-v tral portion ofthe bar inwardly andl 11pwardly.

My new splice bar, as-'explained above is:

equally adaptable to new or worn rails Aand inboth instances provides adequate-bearing surfacesl for the rails .thereby to prevent rapid' wearof `the rail heads at the joint.

A sthe opposed wearing surfaces of the bars are parallel'the bars Vmay be rolled which is not possible with other bars having crowned wearing surfaces. With my new bars. -thelcostof maintenanceismaterially reduced because of the longer life of ,the bar and the adaptability .of adjustment to ,compensate for rails having .end

' "2. A splice bar for use the wear of the rails as such wear takes place I clairn:

1., A splice bar and central rail clamping sections of uniform height int e'xcessof the normal fishing height for said rails'andbeing cambcred transversely in a horizontal plane, and adapted when applied to new .or unworn -rail ends to providerail'clamping portions in planes substantially' parallel to the vertical websof the'rails and when applied to worn rails to fit the fishing-'spacecloser to the rail webs at its central portion than at-its ends..-

with worn or new rails having end and centra`1`rail'clamping `sections of uniform height in .excess of the normal fishing height for said rails 'byap- A proximately one thirty-second to one-sixfor use gwith-worn or new clamping portions Vfrom end vto end yanl throughontsubstantially the entire normal fishing space-in planes substantially parallel `to the vertical webs thereof, and when ap plied to worn rails to clamp the entire nor mal fis'hing space in regions of the worn ou:

sections of the rails". i

45. A splice bar for use With'new or worn rails having end A and central rail clamping portionsof -unifornrheight in excess of the normal fishing height required for said railsv when new, said bar having head and `base flange fishing surfaces and adapted for fishing engagement with the heads of new rails.l

throughout the major portion f its head.

fishing surface in regions parallel to the web 1 fof the rail, and adapted-for full fishing engag'ement with theheads of wornv rails in regions'closer. to the v4web of the-rail at the 1 center of the bar'than at the ends thereof.

In .testimony whereof,- I have signed myname to'this specification.

LOUIS. C.'WILKOFF..

teenth of an inch, and being camberedftransrails and clamping thedishing space from end to end, and being cambered transversely in a horizontal plane and adapted when ap' plied to new or unworn rails to provide rail clamping portions in planes substantially parallel to the vertical Webs of said rails and when applied to worn rails to have the central portion thereof positioned-closer to the rail webs than theends thereof to clampthe rails in the region of theworn out sections.4

4. A splice bar of uniform cross section for use with new or worn rails, and having a.

fishing height in excess of the normal fishing height of said rails by approximately one- 'thirty-second of an inchl and adapted when applied to new or unwornl rails to provide lll( 

